Regarding Reagan and OSHA: Sorry, no stats on hand. Afaik there was a sharp rise in things like dismemberment after his reforms took place.
Let me then just speak from personal experience of my 20 years in the Road and Heavy Construction Union. I personally had a job super speak to me that they were notified OSHA was coming in a few days. Sure enough a couple of days later two kids in their early twenties popped out of a car, shook hands, and a few minutes later left. Great inspection.
I worked side by side with a guy that was later buried alive and killed. All I can say is that it was easily avoidable. Just at the small company I work at we've had one guy electrocuted (semi-loss of use of one arm) another guy in the hospital for months from having a car hit the platform he was on ........ the list is long.
I've been hit in the head with a payloader bucket (glancing blow, some neck damage), hit from behind by an asphalt roller (ouch!), had cars graze me (scary) and taken numerous tumbles on unsafe surfaces. I've personally had management strongly "suggest" we work in deep holes with no sheathing.
In my 20 years I've seen OSHA just that one time.
They come when someone dies.
"This is the life you've chosen" lol, like Al Pacino said in Godfather III. I'm not complaining, just stating the way it is in unions where I live. We were losing one or two guys a year (killed) for a while. Knock on wood no one got killed last year. That's out of about 1200 steadily working members.
I forgot to mention I've never filed a compensation claim, almost no one does. We're a pretty tough bunch imo and suck it up. Hehe, although we're pretty well used up by age 55 or so. Last I heard our life expectancy was 67. So the pension is good.
I guess my point is that without a labor union fair compensation wouldn't be available and even more of the work available would be going to these fly by night outfits that rely on undocumented immigrants to "steal" jobs. I'd have to leave NY to be able to afford housing.
But I love what I do. I get to actually take part in the enormously satisfying job of creating roads and bridges as well as smaller projects that are just as satisfying like doing parking lots and the occasional driveway. It's a rough racket and it's open to all. Lol, few stay after their first 100 degree day standing in and shoveling 320 degree asphalt.